Cambridge announces £10m stem cell research centre

A new £10m centre devoted to research into stem cells is being established at the University of Cambridge, it was announced today.

The announcement comes a day after the European Council reached a compromise decision over the future use of European Union money to fund stem cell research, and a week after the US president, George Bush, used his veto to block a controversial bill which would have lifted a ban on US federal funding for stem cell research.

The new centre, funded mainly by the Wellcome Trust and due to open in December, will be headed by Austin Smith, the former director of the centre for stem cell research at Edinburgh University.

He said: "Stem cell biology is a young and complex area of basic research with emerging potential for biomedical application.

"Historically the United Kingdom has been a world leader in stem cell research. There is now both a crucial opportunity to extend this due to the current restrictions on the funding of human embryonic stem cell research in the United States."

The director of the Wellcome Trust, Mark Walport, said he hoped the development would help retain "elite" scientists with an interest in stem cells in the UK.

Ian Leslie, the pro-vice-chancellor for research at the University of Cambridge, said the implications of stem cell research for the treatment of diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson's was "enormous".

He said: "Cambridge has played a significant role in the advancement of stem cell research and the new centre will provide countless additional opportunities to build upon this tradition of scientific excellence."

The centre will focus on the definition of the genetic and biochemical mechanisms that control how stem cells develop into particular types of cell.

The results of this research will provide the foundations for the engineering of stem cells to model particular diseases as well as boost drug discovery and regenerative medicine.

Some of the funding will also go towards developing a dedicated four-year PhD programme in stem cell biology.

Although the Wellcome Trust has contributed the lion's share of the centre funding the Medical Research Council and the Wolfson Foundation have each donated another £1.5m.